Rarity's Predicament
by washboardchaz
Summary: When Twilight, Rainbow, Fluttershy, Applejack, and Pinkie go on a hike without inviting Rarity, how will she react?  Will things take a turn for the worst and Diamond Dogs Outpost?


"Everypony, have their saddlebags packed?" Twilight Sparkle asked, cheerfully.

"You bet I do!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed while pulling a green noise maker out of her pack and blowing it as loud as she could. It made a noise that closely resembled a duck quack. "Man, am I excited!" she said, before she continued blowing the noise maker.

"Don't worry, Twilight! I've got everything I need for the trip!" Rainbow Dash said. The blue pegasus jumped into the air, doing a loop, her tail leaving a faint rainbow in the air. "We're gonna have so much fun!" Rainbow Dash landed and flicked her wings, as if to boast on the trick she had just preformed.

"Mmhmm," Fluttershy peeped, "I have all my things packed." Fluttershy looked down, causing her light pink mane to fall into her face. She quickly put it back into place.

"All ready, Sugar cube!" Applejack said, her shiny apple cute mark glistening in the light. "But we better get going if we want to finish the trail on time."

"You're right, Applejack, so we best get going. So let's go!" Twilight walked out of the door of her house, the rest of her friends following.

As the five ponies continued on their way to the hiking trail, Twilight broke the silence, "Are you guys sure about not inviting Rarity? I mean, I know she doesn't really like the outdoors much, but won't she feel left out?"

"What the hay are you talking about? That's nonsense! She'd probably whine about messing up her mane or getting her scarf dirty," Rainbow Dash answered in a mocking tone.

"Yah, Rarity would just be a pain in everypony's patootie. Trust me on this one, Sugar cube. Rarity will thank us for not inviting her," Applejack said.

"Well, okay guys," Twilight sounded unsure but decided to go with it. The five ponies finally reached their destination: Diamond Dogs Outpost.

"Well I be darned! We're already here! I guess time flies when you're having fun with friends," Applejack remarked, looking at her friends and smiling. "Well, come on, y'all!"

Rainbow Dash, already in the air, flew straight up into the sky and came straight down. Right before hitting the ground, she pulled out her wings and stopped herself in mid air. "Whoo-hoo!" Dash shouted in glee. "C'mon, guys!" Dash flew up ahead the group.

"Wait up!" Pinkie Pie shouted, and commenced to bouncing on all fours over to where Rainbow Dash hovered. Soon enough, the ponies started to hike their way up Diamond Dogs Outpost.

* * *

><p>Rarity trotted through town, looking for her five pony friends, "Where in all of Equestria could they be?" she asked to no pony in particular. Rarity had looked in Twilight's house: only Spike looked up at her as she entered, dazed from a long nap. She had looked in the Sugar cube Corner: no trace of Pinkie Pie. She had searched the sky for Rainbow Dash: no trace of her either. Rarity had walked through the forest looking for Fluttershy but discovered only her little animal friends. The only place she had not checked: Sweet Apple Acres.<p>

So, Rarity set off on her way to the Apple Family Farm. Once she got there, only Applebloom, Big McIntosh, and Granny Smith welcomed her at the front gate. Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Twilight Sparkle, and Fluttershy must have gone missing or something extreme. They would never leave her behind. Rarity approached Applebloom, "Do you know where your sister and her friends happen to be?"

"They all went to Diamond Dogs Outpost. I overheard Applejack talking about not inviting you because you're not very outdoorsy," Applebloom responded in a sweet Southern accent.

"Oh darn them! They didn't even invite me?" Rarity stomped her hoof into the ground in frustration.

"I'm really sorry, Rarity," Applebloom replied in a sympathetic voice, "Maybe you can catch up with them."

"Thanks, Applebloom. At least I can count on you as a friend," Rarity trotted off, a plan in mind.

When she arrived at her house, she hastily packed up a saddle bag. Rarity would show them, when she went to Diamond Dogs Outpost _all __by __herself_. Rarity would become the ultimate outdoorsy pony. With that thought in mind, she continued to pack, ready for the tough task ahead.

Once Rarity had finished packing her saddlebag, she started on her way to Diamond Dogs Outpost. She had to avoid mud puddles at all costs to keep her mane perfected. It was proving rather difficult as the wind whipped up dust around her.

Rarity stopped dead in her tracks and took a deep breath. She closed her eyes and quietly mumbled to herself, "Rarity, you're going to have to pony up. If you're going to be able to do this, you're going to have to except the fact that you are going to get dirty. Are we clear with that? Of course we are. So from this point on, don't worry about getting your mane messed up or getting your hooves muddy."

Rarity opened her eyes up and continued walking. A mud puddle loomed up ahead on the path, getting steadily larger as she approached it. She gritted her teeth and pushed on, her eyes growing wide at the disgusting water. She winced as she dipped her hoof into the dark brown water. Her hoof sank into the slimy mud and she gasped. Rarity had never felt anything more disgusting in her whole life! She quickly closed her eyes and brought her hoof out of the mud. She looked down, dreading at the possibility of what she would see. Mud completely drenched her hoof, covering it in unimaginable slime. She looked up quickly to keep herself from crying out in agony. She took a shaky step forward and realized that, if she really put her mind to it, she could do this. So she continued on.

Although it had taken a while, she finally got to Diamond Dogs Outpost. Right as she approached the entrance of the trail, her five pony friends came out of the exit. All of their heads turned to stare at Rarity. "Rarity, what are you doing here?" Pinkie Pie asked in her always-cheerful voice.

"Oh, you know, just taking a hike, because, you know, I can do that kind of stuff to," Rarity answered, making sure to avoid making eye contact with any of them. "Since you guys didn't bother to invite me, I decided to take my own hike."

"No, Rarity, we didn't mean it that way. We just thought we were doing you a favor. We didn't think you would enjoy coming on the hike with us, since you don't like getting dirty and all," Applejack said, the warm sweat on her forehead glistening in the afternoon sun.

"Well thanks for checking with me first," Rarity sarcastically remarked. "Well, I'll be seeing you all later then." Rarity whipped her head forward, her perfectly styled royal purple mane following quickly behind.

"I don't think that's a very good idea," Rarity heard Fluttershy whisper. Rarity ignored her and went on her way. Twilight led the other four ponies on their way home.

In a matter of a few minutes, Rarity got lost. A large expanse of rock could be seen from anywhere you stood. Boulders surrounded her on all sides. Rarity plopped onto the ground, holding her head in her hooves, "What have I done? They were right after all, weren't they? I am so not the outdoorsy type." Rarity just lay there for the next hour, silently crying to herself, thinking about the predicament she had gotten herself in. She finally decided to try to continue on and find her way to the end of the trail.

Thinking that if she could get over one of the boulders she could get back onto the trail, she meticulously made her way up one of the smaller boulders and continued her way up the next. Suddenly, he hoof slipped from under her, and she lost her balance. Rarity and the boulder she had stood on started to fall. Her purple mane whipped vigorously through the air, her legs flailing in all directions. She hit the hard, rocky ground with a thud. She heaved in a big breath, shocked by what had just happened. Grateful feelings overwhelmed her at her escape from injury. That thought was quickly diminished when the boulder landed right on her front left leg. A bloodcurdling scream echoed through all of Diamond Dogs Outpost as a crack vibrated through her whole body. She winced as she tried to pull her injured leg out from under the wagon-wheel sized boulder. She tried to push the boulder off of her leg, but it weighed too much to move. After many failed attempts to get the boulder off, she stopped trying.

She lay there, belly up, staring into the sunset sky, accepting the fact that she might die. "Why did I do this?" she thought out loud. "Why did I try to prove this? They were right, weren't they? This is torture."

Tears formed in her eyes, making it hard to see. She felt a terrible aching in her head and leg. She removed her saddle bag from her back and began to dig around, looking for the bottle of water she had fortunately remembered to pack. She raised it to her dry lips and took a sip. The water momentarily subdued the aching in her head and leg as she felt the coolness of it trickle down her throat.

Then she had an idea, she could use her magic to lift the rock! She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. A bright baby blue light illuminated her horn as she concentrated as best as she could. A faint baby blue glowed from around the boulder as a drop of sweat slid down her face. She strained, trying to lift the boulder off of her hoof. The light around her horn faded quickly, and her head dropped. Her magic couldn't lift the heavy boulder.

Since she couldn't normally stand this much of the outdoors and the enormous amount of magic she had tried to use, she found herself exhausted. She placed the left pocket of her saddle bag under her head and shut her eyes. Within seconds, she fell fast asleep.

* * *

><p>Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Applejack, Twilight Sparkle, and Pinkie Pie had just gotten home. Spike greeted them at the door, "How was the trip without me?"<p>

"Spike, I told you that you couldn't come because I needed somebody to watch the house! Why can't you understand?"

Spike crosses his arms and pouted, "Because I wanted to go! Watching the house was boring!"

"Don't worry, Spike. Did you really want to spend a whole afternoon with us girls?" Applejack asked Spike. Spike stuck his tongue out at Applejack and ran up stairs. "Well now that we've got that taken care of, why don't we get down to business and talk about Rarity," Applejack suggested.

"That would probably be a good thing," Twilight replied, "Do you think Rarity is ok on the trail right now, because you guys are right, she isn't the most outdoorsy type..."

"Just give her 'till tomorrow afternoon, or longer. When it comes to walking in the outdoors, Rarity takes her time, if even that," Rainbow Dash mumbled from the ground, her head on her hoofs. She blew her rainbow colored mane out of her eyes and a bored look covered her face.

"Yah, Rarity does take a long time when she might get dirty," Pinkie Pie chimed in. Pinkie Pie bounced up and down, her curly pink mane bouncing up and down.

"Maybe we should check on her tomorrow," Fluttershy offered.

"Yah, I agree with Fluttershy. We should check on her tomorrow afternoon," Applejack said, nodding her head in agreement.

"Well then I guess it's decided that we will all go check to make sure Rarity is doing okay tomorrow," Twilight concluded. "Since it's getting late, why don't all of you sleepover at my house?"

"That would be great!" the five ponies answered in unison. Twilight led the ponies up the stairs to get ready for bed.

* * *

><p>Back at Diamond Dogs Outpost, Rarity carefully rolled over. She grabbed for the bottle of water and pulled the top open with her teeth. She began to down the water in gulps, but she quickly pulled the bottle from her mouth. <em>I <em>_need __to __save __this!_ She thought to herself. _I __need __to __try __to __save __as __much __water __as __I __can, __or __I __will __have __no __chance __of __surviving._ She set the water bottle down beside her, resisting the temptation to drink the whole thing.

A cold wind blew across Rarity's body, sending shivers up her spine. She reached into her saddlebag and pulled out her white scarf with purple stripes and wrapped it around herself. She scrunched into a ball, as best she could, hoping to warm herself. A warm tear ran down her cheek as she rocked, lulling herself into a light sleep.

* * *

><p>At Twilight's house, all five ponies slept soundly in their beds, except for Twilight. "I hope Rarity is ok," Twilight sighed quietly. Twilight imagined Rarity walking on the trail of Diamond Dogs Outpost. "Ahhh! Dirt! Get away dirt! Oh, it stings and burns. Somebody save me!" The thought made her giggle, but remembering that Rarity hated dirt made her stop. She just sat there, thinking about Rarity. Her eyelids finally shut, and she started to dream.<p>

In that dream she saw Rarity walking down the trail on Diamond Dogs Outpost. She took small, tentative steps, her mane bouncing at every step. The scene went black, and in her dream, Twilight heard Rarity's scream and immediately knew Rarity had gotten in trouble.

Twilight sat straight up, her eyes immediately opened. "Girls, we need to leave now. Rarity is in trouble," She told the other ponies in a serious voice.

"What's all this fuss about? I've got to rest if I want to practice all my stunts today," Rainbow Dash mumbled, rubbing her eye with her hoof.

"GUYS!" Twilight yelled at the all still sleeping ponies. "We need to get up and moving NOW! Rarity is in TROUBLE!"

"What's that about trouble, Sugar cube?" Applejack asked, stretching her legs.

"Up, NOW!" Twilight responded. Her horn illuminated as she used a spell causing all of the pony's sheets to hover and drop to the ground. Pinkie Pie immediately hopped out of bed and started bouncing. "Pinkie, help me get the others up."

"Oh-KAY!" Pinkie Pie obeyed. She then hopped onto Rainbow Dash's bed and started to bounce up and down. Rainbow Dash flopped up and down on the bed, when finally she gave up and used her wings to fly, escaping the bouncing.

"I'm up," Rainbow Dash grumbled, clearly wishing she wasn't. "No pun intended," she giggled to herself.

Pinkie Pie hopped onto Applejack's bed. Every time she flew into the air, she did a fancy trick, like a flip or a twirl. Applejack rolled off the bed and hit the ground with a thud! "Well, thanks to that, I'm up too," she said from the ground, rubbing her side with her hoof.

Pinkie Pie bounced over to Fluttershy, who surprisingly had not woken up yet, and stared screaming in her ear, "RISE AND SHINE, FLUTTERSHY!"

Fluttershy quickly awoke, scared by Pinkie Pie. She cowered in fear. "It's ok, silly! No reason to be scared. It was only me!" Pinkie Pie giggled.

"Girls," Twilight attempted to get the ponies attention. They all turned their heads towards Twilight. "Get your saddlebags because we're heading to Diamond Dogs Outpost again.

"How come?" Fluttershy asked.

"Rarity is in trouble. Don't ask how I know, just trust me. Now come on." Twilight started down the stairs, the other four ponies following quickly behind. On the bottom floor, they put on their saddlebags and started on their way back to Diamond Dogs Outpost.

The five ponies galloped towards Diamond Dogs Outpost, keeping a steady pace. "So, what exactly is up with Rarity?" Applejack asked, running ahead the rest of the ponies.

"Well, I had this dream where I saw Rarity walking around at Diamond Dogs Outpost, and then it all went black and I heard her scream," Twilight answered, doubting herself.

"Well ok, if you say so, we'll do it," Applejack answered, unsure of the whole idea.

When they finally arrived at Diamond Dogs Outpost, they quickly headed up the trail. It took a great deal of effort to find Rarity, since she did have a slight tendency to get lost. They finally managed to find her by following the sound of loud moans. They found Rarity, her white coat stained brown, with her front left leg pinned under a boulder.

"Rarity!" Twilight ran over to her aid. "Good thing we came!"

"Oh, get me out from under here! As soon as possible please! The dirt, it burns! SAVE ME!" Rarity yelled.

"We're on it, Sugar cube!" Applejack ran over to the boulder and positioned herself in front of it. "Twilight, on the count of three, try to use our magic to lift this boulder."

"Okay, Applejack!" Twilight closed her eyes and listened for Applejacks signal.

"One…Two…THREE!" Applejack bucked the rock, and Twilight used her magic to lift it. The combination of the two caused the boulder to slowly tumble off of Rarity's leg.

"Oh my gosh, how much can I thank you guys?" Rarity got up as best she could, limping because of the pain in her leg. She fell to the ground, too tired to even support her own weight. Rainbow Dash, who hovered in the air, went over to Rarity and grabbed her shoulders, carrying her in mid air. "Let's get home now!" Rarity said, "I need a mani-pedi now!"

The six ponies started on their way home. "Maybe we can take you to Doctor Whooves to get your leg fixed up, Rarity! Get it? 'Cause he's a doctor?" Pinkie laughed loudly at her own joke, the others giggling.

"Yep, Pinkie, we'll do that. But I'll have to fix this up soon, or I won't be able to make my dresses! Just let me say though, guys, I apologize. I apologize so, so much. I shouldn't have tried to prove you guys wrong. You guys were right to not invite me. From now on, I will not do anything outdoors."

When the ponies arrived back at Twilight Sparkle's house, Spike stood at the door, waiting eagerly. "Spike!" Twilight ordered right as she walked in the door. "Take a note: _Dear __Princess __Celestia, __I __have __learned __that __sometimes __you __should __trust __your __friends, __because __in __some __cases, __they __are __right. __Even __though __you __may __not __want __to __admit __it, __they __are __just __trying __to __help __you. __I __also __learned __that __you __should __believe __in __your __friends __to __do __things __outside __of __their __box. __Even __though __they __don__'__t __usually __do __something __doesn__'__t __mean __they __can__'__t __try __it. __Your __faithful __student, __Twilight __Sparkle._

Spike sealed the letter and sent it on its way to the Princess. "Come on, Rarity! Time to go see the doctor!" Pinkie Pie gestured towards the door. The ponies filed out the door, giggling at Pinkie Pie. Maybe while they got Rarity's leg fixed at the "doctor", they could go time traveling in the TARDIS.


End file.
